


Emily's First Mission

by WishaDream



Series: Control Shorts [9]
Category: Control (Video Game), Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Crossover, F/F, Femslash, Femslash February, Siblings fight, dipper worried about mabel, emily and mabel both fed up with their worried sibling/partner, emily's first filed mission, gets a little spicy at the end, i feel it encapsulates shipper's feelings well, jesse has mild panic attack, jesse still not over past trauma, jesse worried about emily, multiple perspective, possible spoilers for game and dlc, post-canon for control, reminders of her childhood, takes place in early season 1 of gravity falls, the bonus scene was something i thought up at the end and thought would be funny to add, the crossover you've all been waiting for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29496783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishaDream/pseuds/WishaDream
Summary: The day has finally come, Emily has finished her field training and Jesse has found the perfect place to do her first mission, a small town in Oregon called Gravity Falls. A quaint little town where nothing too horrible could be lurking beneath the surface, right?
Relationships: Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Jesse Faden/Emily Pope
Series: Control Shorts [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119476
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

“Give it back, Mabel!”

Even with his cries of protest his sister did not stop, but kept running while holding his journal aloft.

‘Not till you say we are going to do something. That we are going to go exploring.”

“I don’t have time today. There is still so much dangerous stuff out there, Mabel. And I don’t think—.”

His sister stopped running as the boy ended up running into her back. She was frowning, a strange look for the girl who usually had a smile plastered on her face.

“That’s your problem, you are always thinking. Fine, here, take your stupid journal back.”

She shoved it into his chest before stomping away.

She did not get far as two sets of legs blocked her path. Following the legs up, her eyes widened as she found herself staring at two women. One had red hair and a tired look to her eyes. She was dressed in a leather jacket and jeans that looked like they’d been slept in. Beside her stood a woman with short blonde hair with a salesman’s smile. She was dressed in a starched white shirt with dark grey slacks.

The blonde was holding a tablet and looked to be taking notes as she distractedly went, “Hello. We’re looking for Mabel and Dipper Pines.”

“That’s us,” stated the girl with a bright smile.

The boy had joined his sister, standing at her side as he looked up at that women, his eyes widening as the red head pulled out a badge.

“Mabel and Dipper Pines, we’re with the Federal Bureau of Control and we have some questions for you.”


	2. Chapter 2

The FBC had received a letter about strange goings on in a small town in Oregon. The letter came from a boy who said he was staying with his Great Uncle for the summer. There he claimed to have experienced several strange happenings in and around his Grunkle’s tourist attraction.

From what the boy had described Jesse thought it seemed like a simple enough mission. Nothing too big for Emily’s first field mission.

While Jesse was fine with Emily staying in the lab forever, the blonde did not share the same desire.

“Darling didn’t even want me to do the training. But as the Head of Research I need to spend some time in the field if I’m going to be of any help to the agents who spend all their time there.”

After completing her hours Emily put in a request to be assigned to a mission. Jesse kept putting it off until the day she found the letter. That’s when she decided it was time.

  


On their arrival, Jesse gave the tourist trap a once over. The place was falling apart; one of the letters in the sign had fallen to the roof below. The whole place looked like it had seen better days, long, long, long ago.

In the front yard two children were running around, looking to be in the middle of a sibling fight as the boy called out for the girl to stop.

Jesse noticed Emily glance at her, seeming to check on her as if the sight also reminded her of Jesse and her brother.

But Jesse was fine. She had not come here to reminisce on summers spent with her brother. She was on the job.

After introducing herself to the teens she flipped her badge closed, noticing Emily struggle for a moment to do the same.

The edge of Jesse’s mouth twitched with a smile as she tried to maintain a serious expression.

Looking back at the young people, she found the boy was staring at her in wide eyed wonder.

“You look like an adult Wendy.”

She guessed from the dreamlike way he said it that he hadn’t meant to say it aloud.

Beside him a girl with braces and a brightly colored sweater smiled at Emily as she told her, “You look like a female Sev’ral Timez member.”

Emily glanced at Jesse before giving the girl an unsure smile, “Uh, thanks?”

Pulling out her notepad, Jesse got right to business as she told the pair, “We received your letter, Mr. Pines about the strange happenings in this town. It’s not the first letter we’ve received so we deemed it was time to check things out.”

The boy’s eyes brightened as if just starting to fully grasp what was happening.

“Really? You’re here to investigate the strange things. I didn’t think—I sent that letter at the beginning of the summer and I had completely forgotten about it.”

“Can you give us a full report of all the strangeness you’ve encountered?”

The boy nodded, “Yes,” he pulled out his own notepad and pen as he started flipping through. As he did he clicked the pen, a nervous tick, before he got to the page he wanted. “On June 15th my sister and I encountered a hoard of gnomes. Their leader wanted to make my sister his bride and when we ran they all joined together to make this Super Gnome form.”

“Yeah,” went the girl, “It was super scary and we had to escape in a golf cart. The only way we ended up defeating them was with a leaf blower.”

The boy frowned like he’d wanted to leave that point out.

Beside Jesse, Emily nodded along with the boy and girl’s statements as she wrote everything down on her tablet.

“And since then have you encountered anything strange?”

The boy flipped through several pages in his notepad as he said, “A gobblewonker.”

‘But that turned out to be a monster old man McGucket made to get his son’s attention.”

“Old Man McGucket,” repeated Emily as she wrote down the name, “We should probably question him next.”

Jesse nodded.

“There was this creature in the closet.”

“And that strange mailbox in the woods.”

Dipper frowned, “Which you scared away.”

The girl shrugged like it wasn’t that big a deal.

“There’s also the giant tooth on the lake.”

‘And the hide-behind.”

“There’re those ghosts at the abandoned convenience store.”

“And the wax head of Larry King is still in our vents somewhere.”

Jesse felt her jaw tighten as she listened to the teens discuss these strange happenings like other teens discussed TV plots. They seemed so cool about it, not fully realizing how far south paranormal occurrences could go.

She knew first hand. She had lost her entire town, her parents, and in every way but one, her brother. Though he was back physically, she was not sure she would ever be able to regain the time she’d lost with him.

Seeing the two siblings interact, talking over one another, shooting each other annoyed looks, discussing things in halves as they already knew what the other was going to say, reminded her of another thing she’d lost.

Dylan and her had been close like that. Though not twins, they had been almost as close.

_Will we ever be that close again?_

Her hand flexed as it longed to grab her phone to called her brother. To check on him. To ask him how his day was going.

But she couldn’t.

_Not now._

She was on the job. And for Emily’s safety, for her first day, she had to keep her full attention on the task at hand.

“Most everything we’ve seen is mentioned in this book I--,”the boy started to reach into his vest pocket.

Before he could finish there was a loud crash off to the side. Jesse stepped in front of the group, holding out her arm protectively as her other hand went to her belt where her gun was stored.

As another loud crash came from deep in the woods, Jesse looked back at Emily as she said, “Get them inside.”

Emily nodded as she motioned for the kids to head back to the Mystery Shack. At the door she paused to watch them go inside. Once they were safe she turned back, moving like she was coming back to join Jesse.

Jesse stopped her with a raised hand, “You go inside too”

Emily’s brow furrowed as she took another step towards Jesse, “No. I’m going to stay and help. I finished my hours so I am just as qualified as you. I’m not leaving you alone.”

Jesse saw an empty town. Heard the plaintive barks of a dog that had once been a child.

Her stomach churned as her jaw flexed.

“No.”

Emily looked startled by the hardness in Jesse’s voice.

‘Go inside. I can handle this. Just make sure those kids stay safe.”

Emily studied her as if trying to see into her mind. As she did Polaris flashed in Jesse’s mind. It felt as if the being was trying to convince her tell Emily about her fears.

Instead she unholstered her gun, the weight in her hand calming her greatly.

“Go.”

Emily exhaled through her nose, looking like she wasn’t going to move, but in the end she turned away as she headed inside.

Once she was safe, Jesse gripped the gun with both hands as she turned her attention back to the woods. There was another crash as above the tree line she watched a tree fall.

‘Let’s go.”

With that she headed into the dense forest. 

___

As soon as Emily entered the home she heard the siblings talking over one another as they argued.

“You never take anything seriously.”

“So? You don’t like to do anything fun anymore.”

“Research is fun.”

Emily nodded, frowning as the girl retorted, “No it’s not. What’s fun is going out and having an adventure. But you never want to go exploring anymore. All you want to do is sit in your room reading your stupid book!”

Emily could tell things were about to get physical as she stepped into view.

“Hey, so while Director Faden checks out that sound, why don’t you tell me more about the strange happenings in your town. Dipper, was it? You were about to show us something.”

The girl folded her arms, looking pouty as the boy perked up, stepping forward as he pulled a book from his jacket.

The book was red with a strange six finger gold filigree hand print on the front. Over the hand the number 3 had been skillfully painted. The whole thing was worn like it had been created long before the youths.

“This is a journal I found in the woods,” stated Dipper.

“We,” interjected his sister, “That *we* found in the woods. *We* used to do exciting things like that together. Now he would rather just sit around and theorize about all the crazy things out there.”

Dipper frowned as he looked back at his sister, “That’s because there are a lot of dangerous things out there. I don’t think it’s a good idea to just run out there without first knowing everything you can about the things you might encounter.”

Again Emily found herself nodding along with the boy. He was making some good points. Points she often brought up with Jesse, who had a tendency of running into things head first.

Like the situation that day.

‘You can’t spend all your time with your head in a book,” retorted the girl, “There is a time for reading, like in school. And there is a time for going out there and doing stuff, like during summer break. Which we are on. But you act like you’re still in school.”

Emily could understand where both teens were coming from. There *was* a time for research and learning about your enemy. But like with the Hiss, sometimes there wasn’t information on one’s enemy. Sometimes you had to go out and find the answers to the various questions yourself. Like Jesse had done. Like she would like to do now.

“Can I see that?”

She pointed to the book. The boy looked reluctant but when she assured him she would give it right back he handed it over.

Taking a seat on an old armchair she started flipping through. It was filled with an extensive list of strange creatures and strange happenings that had occurred around the town.

‘What is this?” Emily pointed to a page with strange shapes and letters.

Dipper looked at it, “I don’t know.”

“Do you only have the one book?”

The boy nodded.

Emily frowned, “I would hypothesize that there are two books before this one and…” she frowned as she studied the lines on the page that seemed to form half a shape. Would the other two books form the rest of the shape, like some kind of piecemeal image?

But what was the purpose of the final image?

As she thought it over she turned to the next page.

“Oh, I’ve seen that,” stated the girl as she pointed to the drawing. It was a sketch of a cave the author had titled “Melted Face Cave.” From the drawing it really did look like a melted face from one of those horror movies.

“When?” asked her brother in an accusatory tone.

“Hey, I don’t do everything with you. If you’re not going to go on adventures with me I go have my own.”

Dipper’s frown was deep as he looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t decide where he wanted to start.

Emily understood the feeling. Sometimes there were multiple things you wanted to say, but you weren’t sure what thing to start with. That’s why she’d decided to always say what was most pressing.

_I should have fought harder to have Jesse let me help her._

“If you want I can take you there,” stated the girl, “There’s this glowing moss there that makes your tongue glow.”

“How do you know that?” The boy waved his hand, wiping away his own question as he said, “Never mind. I already know.”

Grabbing the book from Emily, he put it back in his vest pocket as he said, ‘We’re staying here. Wendy—Director Faden told us to stay here and that’s what we’re doing.”

Mabel’s hands became fists as she rested them on her hips, “Are you ever going to do anything again, Dipper?”

“Yeah, I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

As he turned away Emily heard the girl let out a little *yoink* as her brother stomped away. Once he was out of sight the girl pulled the journal out of her sweater sleeve.

“You didn’t come here to just hide away in the Mystery Shack. Come on; let’s prove to those two that we can handle things on our own.”

Emily’s eyes drifted back to the door. Jesse had done a lot of work clearing out the Hiss on her own. But she shouldn’t have had to. Emily wanted to be someone Jesse could rely on. But if she stayed here Jesse would probably never let her out in the field again.

“Alright, let’s go.”


	3. Chapter 3

The crashing sound grew louder as Jesse moved closer. Crouching down, she slowed her pace as her muscles tensed in anticipation of whatever was creating the noise.

As she burst through the brush line she had to roll out of the way as a tree crashed to the ground near where she’d just been.

“Woah, hold on!” called a voice.

As Jesse returned to her feet she turned towards the sound, lifting her gun as she watched a young woman stop moving, lifting her hands as she saw the gun.

“Woah, I come in peace.”

Past the girl Jesse took note of three male youths. All of them were red haired, obviously siblings. They were also holding axes, one having his axe currently stuck into the trunk of a tree.

Looking back from the youths to the fallen trees and then back again she realized what was happening.

“We have a permit,” stated the female red head.

Jesse holstered her gun, “Even so, I think you’ve done enough for the day. Clear out.”

The teen girl rolled her eyes before turning back to the boys, “Okay, you heard her. Let’s go.”

Jesse waited till the group had cleared out before heading back to the shack. As she opened the door she called out, “it was just some kids chopping down--.”

Emily wasn’t in the living room, which could be seen through the open door.

“Emily?”

Her voice echoed in the emptiness of the home as she felt her pulse quicken in panic.

She was a child again, coming home to find her parents gone. Not just them, but everyone. Everyone was gone. And she was alone.

Her eyes stung as she heard a floorboard creak. Her hand went to her gun as her eyes turned towards the sound.

The boy lifted his hands as he saw where her hands were going

“It’s me,” his voice cracked on the words as Jesse quickly moved her hand away from her belt.

“Sorry. Where are the others?”

“They’re right in--, he paused as he saw the empty room as well, “they *were* just there.”

He scratched his head, his baseball cap shifting over his hair. His hand paused before shooting down to his vest as he reached into his pocket. His eyes widened.

“What?”

“It’s gone.”

“What is?”

“My journal. I put it in my pocket before I left to go to the bathroom” his eyes widened further as something dawned on him, “Mabel took it. She took it and her and the other agent went out to investigate one of the entries.”

Jesse’s brow dropped in concern, “To investigate what?”

Dipper’s jaw flexed as he looked hesitant to say the words aloud, “The Melted Face Cave.”

Jesse felt her blood go cold as it felt like she had fallen into dark waters. Fallen back into the Hiss with their nightmare world.

_Emily._

____

“Are you sure this is safe?”

Emily ducked under a tree branch that the young girl could just walk under.

As Emily stepped carefully, making sure not to disturb anything, the young girl skipped along in front of her like they were on their way to the candy store.

“You sound like my brother. I thought you wanted to prove yourself to your boss. If you are going to worry about everything you might as well stay in your room.”

Emily could tell that she was referring to her brother, but found herself relating.

Darling had only ever wanted her to stay in the lab, to do her research, to do everything he said. But now that Jesse was in charge she was the one making the rules. And for a time that had given Emily a freedom she’d never had under Trench and Darling. Now she was back to feeling coddled like Jesse didn’t actually believe Emily was ready to be out in the field.

Gripping her hand tightly she pushed forward; worrying less about tripping on a tree root and more concerned with showing Jesse she could do this. Not just Jesse, but also herself.

“We’re almost there,” stated Mabel.

Emily gave her a grateful smile as she stopped to catch her breath, resting her hands on her knees as she did, “Sorry, I’m not used to this much walking. I spend most of my time--.”

“In your room,” finished the girl, “Like my brother.” She let out a frustrated sigh as she kicked at a nearby rock, “I don’t know why he’s being such a shut in.”

“I’m sure he’s just worried about all the things that could go wrong. From the things you mentioned it sounds like you two have experienced some pretty scary things.”

Mabel let out a forlorn sigh, ‘Yeah. But we made it through all of them because we had each other.”

Emily felt her mouth drop into a frown. That was how it had been with Jesse during the Hiss incident. They had made it through because they had worked together. Trusted each other.

She had thought things would continue like that after the Hiss were gone. But they weren’t even completely cleared out when the Foundation mission happened. That’s when everything changed.

It was during that experience that Emily was reminded that like Darling and Trench, Jesse could ignore her advice.

“We’re siblings, twins even,” Mabel had started walking again as Emily hurried to catch up, “We’re supposed to do everything together. We’re supposed to have each other’s backs. But now Dipper acts like he knows better and that my opinion doesn’t matter at all.”

“I understand the feeling. The whole reason I finished my field training hours were so I could join Jesse in the field. We had worked so well together, I thought we could continue it in the field, but now I feel like she just took me on this mission to placate me. After this she probably expects I’ll be fine with working in the lab and never going out again.”

Mabel shook her head as she reached out to pat Emily’s hand sympathetically, “I didn’t realized that even when you’re part of an adult couple you can’t escape people’s need to tell you what to do.”

Emily’s brow furrowed in confusion, “Uh, yeah.”

Mabel’s mouth scrunched thoughtfully as she said, “I read in my magazine for cool teens that you can’t expect your partner to just know what you need. People think soul mates will always know what you’re thinking without you ever having to open up and be vulnerable. That’s unrealistic. Sometimes you have to express your needs and desires. You have to ask for things. You have to communicate how you want to be loved. You can’t just expect them to be a mind reader.”

Emily smiled at the girl’s words, ‘You are very smart.”

“Can you tell my brother that? He thinks I’m just a big old dork.”

“I don’t think that’s true. You just have a different way of thinking than him,” Mabel didn’t look convinced as Emily told her, ‘I’m sure he just gets frustrated that your way of viewing the world doesn’t always match up with his. But I’m sure he appreciates the differences. Just like Jesse appreciates the way I’m able to compartmentalize things and focus on the task at hand, instead of getting bogged down in emotions.”

Mabel shrugged, looking like she still wasn’t completely convinced.

“Hey, let’s show your brother and Jesse that we know what we’re doing.”

This perked Mabel up as she nodded, ‘Yeah. Then they won’t be able to stop us ever again.”

Emily laughed, “Exactly. We are a force to be reckoned with.”

‘Hear us roar.”

Before the girl could make the sound something else completely overshadowed her with its own roar. It was a sound that vibrated the air and made the ground quake beneath their feet.

Mabel backed into Emily, her confidence melting away as she shakily inquired, ‘What was that?”

“I don’t know.”

Another roar punctuated the air as Emily and the girl held onto each other. Then after an especially hard beat of her heart Emily grabbed the girl’s hand as she started to move away from the sound.

“Run.”


	4. Chapter 4

“I can’t believe she took my journal.”

The boy had been grumbling about his sister for the last ten minutes. Jesse just let him ramble on as she was more focused on finding Emily before anything happened.

Outside she appeared cool and collected while inside her pulse vibrated like the wings of hummingbird. As they moved she scanned the area, her eyes darting about frantically as she searched for any sign of the woman.

While Dipper blamed his sister for her rash behavior, Jesse blamed herself.

She never should have allowed Emily out of the lab. Never should have agreed to let her go out as soon as she’d finished her 30 hours of training.

_No. My biggest mistake was thinking this mission would prove to be nothing._

She had seen the letter, a note quickly scribbled down in crayon. It seemed like nothing more than a prank. But people would have thought the same thing about what happened with Jesse’s town.

_I should have known better._

She should have known reports made by children were always the truest ones.

“We need to find them,” Jesse’s jaw felt tight with worry as she spoke through gritted teeth.

Dipper nodded as his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Together they made their way through the woods as twigs and rocks crunched beneath their feet.

If there *was* something out there neither one of them was sneaking up on it.

“Tell me about this place that Mabel took Emily.”

“It’s just a cave that looks like a melted face. There’s nothing really sinister about it, but,” his voice broke, “Who knows what might live inside.”

Black spots flashed across Jesse’s vision along with a vision of Emily lying in a puddle of her own blood.

Her chest throbbed as she gripped at hr chest. Her breathing came out in quick panicked breathes as her the spots increased.

Seeing she had stopped, Dipper looked back as he noticed her panicked state. ‘Hey, it’s going to be okay. Mabel can be careless, but I know she won’t get them into too much trouble. Even if they do encounter something, she will get them out of it. She can do some pretty amazing things when she wants to.”

His smile was reassuring as she choked out, ‘How can you be sure?”

“Because she’s my sister and I trust her.”

Jesse’s heart throbbed for an entirely different reason as she thought about her brother.

_Will Dylan ever be that confident about me again?_

Now that he was awake they had a chance to get to know each other again. But could their relationship ever be as good as it once had been.

_It’s probably wrong to focus on how things once were._

Better to dwell on how things could be.

As her breathing slowed Dipper helped her to her feet.

“If you’re that confident about her skills, why did you stop going on adventures together?”

Dipper’s mouth was a thin line as they started to walk again, “I know firsthand from the things in the book how dangerous things are. I don’t—I don’t want her to get hurt. She can be reckless.”

Jesse frowned as she thought over how the word applied to her. She was like Mabel, always jumping head first into things, while Emily hung back and worried, like Dipper.

“From your letters it sounds like you two have encountered some pretty terrifying things.”

Dipper nodded, his jaw setting as he said, “Mabel doesn’t seem to realize how close we’ve come to…” his voice quieted, his mouth becoming a thin line as he was unable to finish the words, “that’s why I stay in my room studying the book. I have to know what kinds of things are out there and how to defeat them. If I don’t I might—she might get hurt.”

Jesse knew exactly the words he was leaving unsaid.

_I might lose her._

It was the same fear that had gripped her heart when Emily declared she’d finished her field training.

“And I’m ready to go out with you.”

Just thinking about all the things that could go wrong sent Jesse retreating to a corner where she hyperventilated. Especially when she realized there would be times that Emily went out into the field without her.

No one else would try as hard to keep the woman alive. No one else would be able to do as much.

Though Emily had proven herself with the Hiss incident to be more than capable of solving problems, of coming up with ways to defeat enemies, being the one to do so was an entirely different problem. Emily might have all the information on the dangers, but she had not experienced any of them as first hand as Jesse had.

Ahead of her, Jesse imagined Emily floating, halfway between heaven and hell, eyes closed as she chanted a long phrase of random words.

Shaking the image from her mind she asked Dipper, “How close are we to the cave?”

“We’re almost there. It’s just up head.”

He pointed through the trees.

Just then the air started to quiver as through the forest they heard something let out a mighty roar.

Jesse had her gun out in the same moment that she surged forward. Behind her she heard Dipper running, his shorter legs making it hard for him to keep up.

She considered telling him to stop, to stay behind, but all she could think about was pressing forward.

_Please be okay. Please don’t leave me. I don’t know what I’d do without you._

The trees around them groaned as the creature let out another roar that sent Jesse’s hands to shaking as she gripped the gun tighter. Even holding the service weapon did nothing to quall the panic rising in her chest. Did nothing to keep her mind from filling with all the things that could go wrong. All the ways that she could lose Emily.

The tree line broke away as she came out into a clearing. The cleared space made the roar sound even louder as it seemed like it was coming from all around her.

Black spots took over her vision again as she realized she did not see Emily. Each breath racked her chest as her head swam with visions of Emily’s broken body.

“Mabel!” Dipper’s scream broke her out of the panic as she turned back to face him.

“What are you--.”

Dipper cupped his hands around his mouth as he called out again, ‘Mabel!!”

“Dipper, quiet, you’re going to--.”

“Dipper!!”

The girl’s voice came from the opposite line of trees. As the two looked they saw the bright yellow of her sweater as she came into view, waving her arms above her head.

A moment later Emily stepped into view, looking like she was pulling the girl back into the shadows. She stopped when she spotted Jesse.

The two stood frozen, the space between them seeming to close as in a moment it felt like it was just the two of them with nothing else around them.

“Emily.”

Dipper ran into her leg, bringing her back again as he started to race towards his sister.

‘Mabel!”

Off to the side Jesse noticed birds fly up into the sky as the tops of several trees disappeared before a loud crash rang out from the shadows.

_I don’t think it’s those teens again._

Jesse started to run as well, passing Dipper as she grabbed his arm, making him stumble as she dragged him along behind her. They reached the tree line where Emily and Mabel were waiting just as another roar shook the air.

‘We need to find a place to hide.”

‘I know a place,” stated Mabel as she motioned for them to follow her.

Before she could take a step her brother grabbed her arm as he pulled her back, “Mabel, stop. This is dangerous; let the professionals take care of this.”

Mabel pulled her arm free, looking annoyed as she told him, “I *do* know what I’m doing, Dipper. I’ve been here before. I know where we will be safe. Let me do this.”

Jesse noticed Emily watching her, her expression looking just as determined as the girl’s.

Dipper let out a resigned sigh as his shoulders dropped, “Fine. Lead the way.”

The girl did as the group followed her through the woods. Though Jesse had seen trees collapsing near them, when the creature roared again it did not sound like it was getting any closer. Not wanting to wait to see if it didn’t come after them they kept moving.

Eventually Mabel pointed ahead as she said, “We can hide in there.”

Up ahead was a cave that looked like the melted face of a man.

‘It’s just like in the picture,” Emily sounded in awe as she took a moment to study the natural structure.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Jesse looked at Dipper as they both paused at the mouth of the cave.

The boy worriedly pulled at the bottom of his vest as he answered, “I don’t know.”

“Come on,” called Mabel.

The inside of the cave was damp and filled with a moss that glowed slightly. It was also slippery, as Dipper quickly found out. Jesse caught his elbow, just managing to keep him upright as he looked back to thank her.

“Okay, you all stay here; I’m going to try to draw whatever that is away. Once it sounds like it’s far enough away you all make your way back to the shack.”

As she turned to go Emily called out after her as she felt her grab her elbow, “I’m going with you.”

“No.”

Emily’s lips were pressed into a thin line as she looked ready to argue. At this point she usually told Jesse to be careful then let her go without any further arguments. But this time she only held Jesse’s arm tighter as she said, “I did have my training, Jesse. And I’m out in the field with you now as a *field agent.* You can’t keep telling me to stay. I’m not just here to research things I’m also here to help you.”

Jesse’s eyes went from Emily back to the kids. Mabel had her arms folded, looking upset as she glared at her brother who was worrying the font of his t-shirt.

Dipper had just wanted to keep his sister safe, just like Jesse wanted to keep Emily safe. But by worrying he’d pushed his sister to take risks in order to prove she could take care of herself.

If Jesse kept trying to keep Emily safe, would she eventually do something similar? Something that could end up fulfilling Jesse’s greatest fear.

The world felt like it was closing in around her as Jesse again found her breath coming in quick panicked bursts.

‘Jesse?” Emily sounded concerned as she let go of her arm, setting her hand on her arm in comfort.

_This isn’t the time for this._

Though she tried to fight the feeling of impending doom, the heady feeling continued as she saw herself and Dylan standing in the place of the twins.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you safe,” her voice broke with the words as she felt her eyes instantly water with tears. Her tight hold on the gun loosened as she felt her knees hit the ground.

‘Jesse.”

Emily’s voice sounded like it was coming through space. A space that was pressing around Jesse, making her head pound like she was sinking deep into cold ocean waters.

No matter how hard she tried she’d never be able to keep Emily completely safe. Doing so was like trying to keep a hold of sand as it slipped through her fingers. The harder she fought to hold it, to keep control, the more she would lose.

The gun fell from her hands as she gripped the sides of head as she started to rock back and forth.

“I can’t do it. I can’t keep you safe. No matter how hard I try.”

Arms wrapped around her as Emily’s voice gently reminded her, “That’s okay.”

‘It’s not. How can I do anything knowing you might get hurt?”

Emily made soothing sounds as she brushed Jesse’s hair with her fingers, “I don’t know. I guess you’re just going to have to learn to trust me, like how I trust you to come back when you go out on your missions. You don’t think I worry. You might have all these amazing abilities, but that doesn’t make you invincible.”

She could hear Emily’s voice break on the word as Jesse felt herself break apart as she shuddered in the woman’s arms.

As she shattered she realized how long she had been trying to stay together. How hard she had fought to stay strong as she searched for her brother.

When she’d found him she had to maintain her strength for the sake of those at the FBC. And when Dylan awoke she had to be strong to keep herself from losing him again.

“Jesse, you don’t have to do this alone. I’m here. I can help you.”

It was like Emily’s voice was calling to her, reaching down through the miles of water to pull Jesse out. To draw her back to the surface.

“You keep putting it all on yourself to keep everyone safe. But who protects you, Jesse? Who looks out for you? Who stands beside you when you’re breaking down? We are supposed to be a team. If one of us falls, the other one is there to protect us and lift us back to our feet.” She felt Emily’s hands on her face, turning her eyes up as she told her, “Stop putting this all on yourself. Let us help you. Let *me* help you.”

Jesse had failed her brother because of inaction. She wasn’t about to fail anyone like that again.

Borrowing Emily’s strength, she pushed herself back to her feet. Once she was steady Mabel handed her back the gun.

‘Thanks.”

Taking a breath she looked back at the cave mouth. The air around the edges of the cave shook with the roar as a rush of air blew through the entrance, sending her hair floating back.

Whatever was coming was here now.

Jesse looked to the side where Emily stood, eyes forward, looking ready to take on whatever was coming.

She looked so strong. So brave.

_I was a fool._

Reaching into her jacket, Jesse pulled out a case she held out to Emily. The woman’s eyebrow arched as she looked from the case back to Jesse.

“What’s this?”

“I know you’re not a reckless agent. That you are very competent, but that doesn’t make me worry any less. But I will admit I’ve gone a little overboard with this mission. I even started to worry that you might hurt yourself if I gave you this.”

Emily’s eyes lit up as she opened the case to find a combat knife and case inside.

“It’s made from black rock prism. Like you always wanted.”

Emily’s smile grew as she lifted the knife out reverentially, taking it out of the case as she watched the blade shimmer in the light coming from the cave mouth.

“I had it made as a gift for your first mission. I’m sorry I freaked out so much I messed this up for you.”

Emily frowned as she sheathed the knife again, “You didn’t mess anything up. We are working together now. Everything else was field practice.”

Jesse gave her a grateful smile as they both turned their attention back to the cave mouth. As they did the inside walls of the cave rumbled as the roar vibrated the stone.

Behind them Dipper and Mabel held onto each other as she heard the boy tell his sister, “I’m sorry for treating you like a baby. I don’t think you’re a dork. You’re the bravest person I know. I’ve just been worried that if we kept going out on adventures without knowing everything you’d get hurt. I don’t want to lose you.”

“I’m sorry too. I know you are just looking out for me. I’ll try to be less reckless and listen to you when you tell me something is too dangerous.”

Jesse raised her gun as Emily drew her knife from its sheathe.

As the last of the creature’s previous roar finished its journey through the cave mouth they heard the crunch of something moving closer.

Jesse felt her arms shake as she braced herself, steadying her aim.

“We’ve got this,” stated Emily in assurance.

Jesse nodded.

Boom.

A tree fell at an angle to the cave as the creature drew closer.

Boom.

The earth vibrated as stones skittered across the hard ground.

Boom.

Jesse started to squeeze the trigger as she prepared to shoot whatever beast came.

Then the creature stepped into view in all its horrid—cuteness.

Jesse lowered her gun as she watched a five pound white rabbit hop in front of the cave, As the creature landed the ground shook, making Jesse stumble for a moment.

“What is--?”

Before she could finish the rabbit opened its mouth, letting out a loud roar that shook the inside of the cave and made everyone inside cover their ears.

‘This isn’t like some Monty Python rabbit we have to worry about is it?” called Emily over the sound.

“No. I read about this in the journal. “The Loud Bunny.” Though it sounds and weights like something larger it is completely harmless.”

“If you’re not a tree,” sated Mabel as she pointed to the fallen oak.

“Still, let’s give it a wide birth,” Jesse as she motioned for the group to start making their way out of the cave and away from the rabbit.

As the group headed away, Jesse heard the rabbit let out another super roar that shook the trees and made the birds hurry away. It truly was a *loud* bunny.


	5. Chapter 5

**epilogue**

Back at the shack, while Mabel animatedly discussed the loud bunny with Emily, Jesse pulled Dipper to the side.

“I’m not saying you should pursue these strange things anymore, but if it’s like an itch for you,” she reached into her jacket, pulling out a business card she handed over to him, “you seem to have some talents that the FBC might be interested in.”

Dipper smiled before looking down at the card, frowning as he flipped it over, finding only the insignia of the agency on the card, “This doesn’t have your phone number or address. How am I supposed to contact you?”

The woman gave him a mysterious smile as she said, “If it’s meant to be you’ll find us.”

Before he could ask her about it, Mabel called out loudly, “Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Stan, you won’t believe what we found!”

Dipper completely forgot about the card as he joined his sister as together they tried to tell their uncle about the day’s events.

“There was this big monster in the woods and it--!”

“—Jesse was so cool, she just stood there with her gun raised, ready to face whatever was coming at us--.”

“—cutest, most fluffiest bunny I’ve ever seen. But it was so loud it was able to knock over trees.”

The man let out a single grunt when the kids seemed to have finished their tale, “Yeah, okay. Sounds like you two had quite the adventure.”

The man chuckled as he mused to himself, “You two have some imaginations.”

His amused smile shifted to a charming grin as he noticed the two women, “Well, hello ladies. And what brings you to my fine establishment?”

He motioned to the shack as behind him something made a loud sound as it crashed to the ground.

Jesse extended her hand as she said, ‘I’m Jesse Faden and this is Agent Pope. We came to--.”

“Agent,” the man’s voice squeaked on the word as he drew back his hand, looking horrified like he’d almost touched something disgusting.

His eyes darted to the side as he started to back away, “Ah uh, come on kids, we gotta uh, get to the church to drop off those clothes for charity.”

The twins looked confused as the man started to shove them in the direction of a rundown car, “What clothes?”

“What charity?”

The man let out a tense laugh as he shoved them in the car, keeping an eye on the agents the whole time before peeling away as he left them standing in the dust he’d left behind.

Over the sounds of the car’s engines one could hear him let out a triumphant laugh as he called back, “You’ll never catch me, Coppers.”

In the back of the car, Mabel let out a dreamer’s sigh as she leaned on the backseat, looking back out the window at the diminishing forms of the agents.

‘I hope I find a love like theirs someday.”

Beside her, Dipper leaned on the seat as he looked back with a confused frown, ‘Love? They’re not in love. They’re just partners.”

His sister gave him a sympathetic frown as she patted his cheek, “Oh Dipper, you may notice a lot of weird things, but you are oblivious when it comes to romance.”

She let out an exasperated sigh before turning around to face the front.

“Romance? What am I missing? Wait, does someone like me? Has someone been talking about me?”

As he sat beside her she turned her eyes to stare out the window.

“Mabel, has Wendy been asking about me? What did she say? What did you tell her? Mabel. Mabel!”

___

Jesse watched the Twin’s drive away in their Grunkle’s car, keeping an eye on it till it was completely out of view. Once it was gone she turned back as she headed towards the agency vehicle.

Emily was already inside typing up the report for the area.

“I’m putting in a request to assign some agents to this area. I feel there is more to this place than weird bunnies. It might be worth having someone keeping an eye on things.”

Jesse nodded as she turned the car on, “As Director I approve that request.”

Her eyes drifted up to the rearview as she looked back at the rundown roadside attraction.

The roar might have been nothing, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something darker out there. Something that could put Dipper and his sister in danger.

Her grip on the wheel tightened as she felt herself go back for a moment. Back to the time when Dylan and her were alone with no one to--.

A hand touched her arm.

Emily.

She looked to have sensed Jesse’s shift as she assured her, “We won’t let things turn out like they did in Ordinary.”

It was nice that she didn’t have to say anything. That Emily just knew, but so she could get in the habit she admitted, “I don’t want any other kids to have to go through what Dylan and I did.”

Emily squeezed her arm, “Neither of us will let that happen.”

Jesse gave her a grateful smile before pushing the gas. As they took the road back to the highway Emily caught Jesse up on the journal the boy had been keeping.

“How do you know he didn’t make it.”

Emily shook her head, “It was too comprehensive to have come from a child’s imagination. Trust me. There is something more to that journal.” She paused for a moment, her expression taking on a thoughtful frown, “I also think that Grunkle person knows more than he’s letting on.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know. Just call it a hunch.”

Jesse let out an amused laugh, “A hunch, you say? Doesn’t sound very scientific. But it does sound like a field agent.”

“You think so.”

She smiled at her, “Yeah. Sorry I was being so weird.”

Emily’s gaze dropped to her hands as she scratched at a mud stain on her pants, “Darling put me in a bubble. He never seemed to trust me completely. Never gave me as much responsibility as I knew I could handle.”

She could see where the words were heading as she gripped the steering wheel tighter, waiting for the impact.

“The way you treated me today, I felt like I was back with Darling. I had thought you were different. That you trusted me.”

‘I do trust you. I just don’t trust the world not to hurt you.”

_I don’t trust myself to be able to protect you._

“Life never guarantees that you’ll be fast enough, or strong enough to save the people you care about. All you can do is be there in the moments you can manage. But honestly, Jesse, you don’t need to protect me.”

She startled as she looked at the woman.

_Did you hear my thoughts?_

Emily let out a heavy sigh as she fixed Jesse with a look, “You can’t control everything, Jesse. You can’t protect everyone. It’s a terrible truth you just have to face. But as long as you are director and I am your head of research we are going to have to learn to trust each other to do our absolute best to take care of each other. But you have to realize that when working at the Old House, things aren’t assured. Even the little you can be sure of in the normal world does not apply in the Bureau. Nothing is sure. Nothing is fixed. The only constant is that things are always changing. Shifting. You have to learn to accept that. To work with it. To work in spite of it. To work through it.”

“Change isn’t something I accept easily.”

Emily nodded, seeming again to know where Jesse’s mind was going as it took her to her hometown where she’d experienced the biggest change of her life.

“I imagine so. But you’re not facing those changes alone. Not anymore,” Emily smiled, “You have me. And Arish. And the rest of the FBC. We face any and all changes together. As a team. Okay?”

Jesse felt her jaw flex with the influx of emotions. Shifting her hold on the wheel, she turned the car to the side of the road where she parked it.

Emily gave her a curious head tilt as she turned to face her.

“Since coming to the bureau I’ve experienced a lot of crazy things. Things I don’t understand. Things I don’t think I ever want to understand. There have been some wonderful moments, some magical experiences, things I will treasure forever, like meeting you and working as a team to save the world from the Hiss. But even with all the things I’ve learned while working at the Old House, there is something I did not realize until this mission.”

When she didn’t continue Emily reached across to squeeze her hand reassuringly, “What’s that?”

Jesse squeezed her hand back before rubbing her thumb over the back of Emily’s hand. Though she could face an unknown monster head on, though she could fight whole armies of extra dimensional creatures, in this moment she found she was too scared to even look Emily in the eyes.

“I realized…” she took a breath to steady her voice, not wanting it to crack like Dipper’s, “I realized I don’t want to lose you. That was why I was being so crazy. The whole time we were out in the field I kept picturing all these horrible things happening to you and it all made me realize I didn’t know if I’d be able to go on if I lost you.”

Jesse felt Emily’s hand touch her cheek as she looked up just in time to meet Emily’s lips with her own as the woman leaned in. With that simple touch the horrible images she’d pictured of Emily dying, mangled and alone, were erased from her mind, replaced with the feeling of Emily’s lips. A soft feeling that was hungry for the taste of Jesse’s lips.

In that moment her senses were completely filled with Emily.

Emily’s scent. Lemongrass and clover.

Emily’s fingers. Tangling in her hair.

Their breath mixed like clouds in the sky as they were lost in feelings of flight. Of taking off from the worries of the world as they floated away together.

Just when Jesse’s head was starting to spin like she’d had too much alcohol her phone went off.

The fingers that had just started to play at the edges of Jesse’s shirt returned to Emily’s side.

Clearing her throat, Jesse answered the phone, “Hello?”

Her voice sounded out of breath and choked, a fact her brother quickly picked up on as he asked, “Is everything okay? You sound like you’ve been running.”

“Oh uh,” she glanced at Emily who was looking straight ahead, the redness of her ears telling Jesse her feelings on the current situation “Uh, yeah. But we’re fine. It just turned out to be a really loud rabbit. Did you need something?”

“I was just calling to ask where you keep your spices.”

“I keep the salt in the cabinet next to the microwave.”

“No, I meant spices, like basil and cumin.”

“I uh, I don’t have those.”

Her brother let out a heavy sigh like what she’d said inconvenienced him, “Seriously, Jesse.”

“What? I’ve never needed them before.”

He sounded like he was holding the phone to his shoulder as his hands were busy doing something else, “Alright fine. I’m making a shopping list. Do you need me to get you anything?”

Jesse’s lips tingled as she looked at Emily. She had been sneaking a peak but immediately looked away when she saw Jesse watching her.

Jesse’s mouth crooked to the side.

“Nah, I’m good. But I’ve got to go; we’re actually in the middle of something.”

“Oh, okay. Well, be safe and call me--.”

Jesse turned her phone off as she crawled across the car, watching as Emily leaned back against her door while biting her lower lip.

“Are you sure that’s safe? What if someone needs to get a hold of us?”

“Like you said, we’ve got a whole team backing us up. Let them take care of it. I’ve got something more pressing right in front of me.”

Emily let out a pleased sound as they kissed again.

For the first time in a long time neither of them thought of anything else as they focused fully on the moment and the feeling of each other.

____

Dylan frowned as he looked at the phone as it let out the end call tone.

“Huh. Guess she was in a hurry to get back to it.”

He shrugged as he set the phone down, turning his mind to the list he was writing as he tapped the pen against his pursed lips.

“What else?”

A thought came to him as he started writing down ingredients.

“Yes, perfect. I’ll make this when Jesse gets back. It will be a good welcome home meal. And maybe I can talk her into inviting that head of research lady. I feel like there’s something there. Maybe I can play matchmaker.”

He smiled, seemingly pleased with himself.

Yes, when Jesse got back they’d have a nice meal together and catch up on all the time they’d missed out on together.

Now that his sister was back, he was not going to waste another moment.

“I wonder if the science lady eats meat. Hmm, I should ask her.”

He just so happened to have her number. Dialing it into his phone he waited as the line rang through before suddenly cutting off as he was sent to voicemail.

‘Huh. I guess she’s busy too. Hope whatever trouble they’ve found themselves in doesn’t get too rough. Wouldn’t want either of them to get hurt.”

Deciding he’d add a vegetarian option just in case he headed out to get the food.

___


	6. Chapter 6

**Bonus**

“Toby, what are you doing?”

The man lowered his binoculars as he turned to find Sheriff Blubbs and Deputy Durland watching him.

Blubbs looked from Toby to the vehicle the man had been watching, a black car that was sitting on the shoulder of the road.

‘Is that those agency people’s car? Have they still not left?”

“We should go tell them to scram. There’s nothing to see here.”

Blubbs nodded as he pulled up his belt before taking a step forward. Before he could take two, Toby hurried to move in front of them.

“No. Don’t.”

The two frowned as one, ‘What? Why not?”

Toby glanced back at the car before looking back at the two men. Leaning in, he held his hand up to his mouth as he whispered, “Adult content.”

The two men exchanged a confused look before understanding dawned in Blubb’s eyes. Durland still seemed confused but followed when Blubbs called for him to move away.

“You too, Toby. Best we leave them to it. We don’t need to push this story past its Teen rating.”

Toby nodded as he cast one last look back at the car. Before heading away he clenching his fists, pumping them in front of himself as he whispered a simple, “Get ‘em. Get ‘em.”


End file.
